A detailed soil survey was undertaken in central state farm Jetsar, Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, India representing the arid climate with the aim of to assess the status and potential of land resources for the suitability and production potential of soils for chickpea. The area of the farm has been divided into three major landforms viz., sand dunes, reclaimed sand dunes and aeofluvial flood plain. Based on the variation in physiography and landforms, eight soil pedons were identified in the farm. Pedon P1 & P2 occurring on sand dune and reclaimed sand dune which are sandy deep, mixed, calcareous, Typic Torripsmments whereas pedons from P3 to P8 occurring on aeofluvial flood plains which are deep, calcareous, coarse loamy to fine silty Typic/Sodic/Fluventic Haplocambids and Oxyaquic Torrifluvents. Soils of the farm belong to very deep category ranged from 135- 195 cm, sandy to clay textured developed on aeolian and alluvium parent material. These soils are moderately alkaline (8.25 pH) to strongly alkaline (9.56 pH), very low (0.02%) to low (0.29%) in organic carbon, non saline (EC 0.13) to strongly saline (EC 7.50 dsm-1), low (1.95%) to high (19.51%) in calcium carbonate. Further, soils were low in available nitrogen, low to medium in available phosphorus, low to medium in available potassium whereas soils were low in available Fe and Mn, and high in available Zn and Cu. Soil has been assessed for suitability of chickpea as per the criteria given by Naidu et al 2004. Soils of the pedon P3, P6 and P7 were moderately suitable, whereas pedon P5 was marginally suitable for the cultivation of chickpea. Soils of pedon P1, P2, P4 and and P8 were not suitable for the chickpea cultivation due to extreme values of texture, pH and organic carbon respectively. Potentially soils of pedon P3, P5, P6 and P7 were moderately suitable in contrast to P2 and P8 which are marginally suitable. Yield of the farm can increased 9-36% with soil and fertility related managements.
Trang 1Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.804.302
Soil-Site Suitability and Production Potential Evaluation of Chickpea
(Cicer arietinum) under Arid Climate of Western Rajasthan, India
R.L Meena 1* , T.P Verma, R.S Singh, P.C Moharana, Sunil Kumar,
Mahaveer Nogiya, B.L Tailor, R Singh and S.K Singh 2
1
ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre,
Udaipur- 313001 (RJ), India
2
ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning,
Nagpur- 440033 (MH), India
*Corresponding author
A B S T R A C T
Introduction
Chickpea is an important leguminous crop
because it has commercial, trade and dietary
value in India, which contain around >20% protein and rich in essential amino acids such
as lysine, isoleucine, arginine, and total
aromatic amino acids (Naser Maheri-Sis et al,
International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences
ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 04 (2019)
Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com
A detailed soil survey was undertaken in central state farm Jetsar, Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, India representing the arid climate with the aim of to assess the status and potential of land resources for the suitability and production potential of soils for chickpea
The area of the farm has been divided into three major landforms viz., sand dunes,
reclaimed sand dunes and aeofluvial flood plain Based on the variation in physiography and landforms, eight soil pedons were identified in the farm Pedon P1 & P2 occurring on sand dune and reclaimed sand dune which are sandy deep, mixed, calcareous, Typic Torripsmments whereas pedons from P3 to P8 occurring on aeofluvial flood plains which are deep, calcareous, coarse loamy to fine silty Typic/Sodic/Fluventic Haplocambids and Oxyaquic Torrifluvents Soils of the farm belong to very deep category ranged from
135-195 cm, sandy to clay textured developed on aeolian and alluvium parent material These soils are moderately alkaline (8.25 pH) to strongly alkaline (9.56 pH), very low (0.02%) to
low (0.29%) in organic carbon, non saline (EC 0.13) to strongly saline (EC 7.50 dsm-1),
low (1.95%) to high (19.51%) in calcium carbonate Further, soils were low in available nitrogen, low to medium in available phosphorus, low to medium in available potassium whereas soils were low in available Fe and Mn, and high in available Zn and Cu Soil has
been assessed for suitability of chickpea as per the criteria given by Naidu et al 2004
Soils of the pedon P3, P6 and P7 were moderately suitable, whereas pedon P5 was marginally suitable for the cultivation of chickpea Soils of pedon P1, P2, P4 and and P8 were not suitable for the chickpea cultivation due to extreme values of texture, pH and organic carbon respectively Potentially soils of pedon P3, P5, P6 and P7 were moderately suitable in contrast to P2 and P8 which are marginally suitable Yield of the farm can increased 9-36% with soil and fertility related managements
K e y w o r d s
Soil site suitability,
Evaluation,
Chickpea and
Limitations
Accepted:
20 March 2019
Available Online:
10 April 2019
Article Info
Trang 22008)) It is a major rainfed rabi pulse crop of
arid part of Rajasthan which accounts around
19 % area and contribute 17% production of
the country with productivity of 8.5q/ha
(Agricultural statistics, 2014) Increasing
population of the country enforced the
intensive use of natural resource to feed its
inhabitants Assorted use of land resources
due to population pressure, expand their
degradation and in-turn decline in soil
fertility, degradation and finally poor
factor-productivity
This adventitious use of the natural resources
is due to lack of information about the
soil-site suitability of crops as conditional by
climate, topography and management level
(Sehgal, 1991) However, growing the crops
without proper consideration of soil and site
continuously low yield with soil health
downturn We need to be using the natural
resources according to their capacity to satisfy
the needs of its inhabitants This can be
achieved through proper investigation of land
resources and their scientific evaluation
Information on soil-site suitability of chickpea
crop in different landforms of central state
farm as well as for entire western Rajasthan is
scanty Hence, it is desirable that the chickpea
crop should be grown as per suitability in
different kind of soils as well as climate and
physiography Several workers have worked
out the suitability of soils for various crops
such as wheat (Sharma, 1999), cotton
(Mandal et al., 2002) and sorghum (Pakhan et
al., 2010) Considering this, soil-site
requirement of chickpea for the region was
developed talking into account the available
literature and field and local experience as
suggested by Naidu et al., (2006) and FAO
(1976) In the present study, an attempt has
been made to evaluate “Soil-site suitability
for chickpea in central state farm, Jetsar”
Materials and Methods Location and climate
Central state farm (Unit of national seed corporation) is situated in Sri Raisinghnagar and Sri Bijaynagar block of Sri Ganganagar district in Rajasthan, which falls in western dry zone lies between 24°39’26”to 24°44’00”
N latitude and 74°21’33” to 74°28’04” E longitude The farm is part of vast former flood plain mixed with aeolian sandy deposits and alluvium parent material It representing western plain-semi arid transitional plains physiography which representing hot arid western plain marusthali (Thar Desert) of agro-eco sub region (2.1) The area has very scanty and erratic rainfall with extremely hot
in summer and cold in winter The average rainfall of the area is 286 mm an some years it
is negligible Hence, the study area qualifies for hyperthermic temperature regime The length of growing period (LGP) of the area is 45-60 days Out of 5394.35 ha area of farm about 53.6% ha area under cultivation, 26.40% under sand dunes, and 20.3% ha is under cultural waste The major landforms identified in the area are sand dunes (15.61%), reclaimed sand dunes (33.27%) and aeo fluvial flood plain (29.3%) The topography of the farms composed of Deny, undulating uplands and aero-fluvial plains Major part of the cultivable lands is under canal irrigation The major area of the farm enjoys the cultivation of chickpea, wheat, pearl millet, guar, mustard and pulses
Soil sampling and analysis
Detailed soil survey of the farm conducted using cadastral map as a base (1:4000 scale) during May, 2014 The soil correlation exercise yielded 8 soil pedons in the study area The pedons were studied on defined land forms for morphological characteristics following the procedure given in Soil Survey
Trang 3Staff (2006) Horizon-wise soil samples
collected from the typifying pedon and
analyzed for their soil genesis, physical,
physic-chemical, chemical and nutrient status
properties following standard procedures The
soils were classified according to soil
taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 2006) and
generated thematic maps of the farm which
represented in Figure 2 Soil pH and electrical
conductivity was measured in 1:2.5 soil water
suspension using glass electrode pH meter
and conductivity bridge (Jackson, 1973) The
organic carbon was determined by rapid
titration method (Walkley and Black, 1934)
and CaCO3 by rapid titration method (Puri,
1930) The available micronutrients in soil
samples were extracted with DTPA (0.005 M
DTPA + 0.01 M CaCl2 + 0.1 M TEA, pH 7.3)
as per the method described by Lindsay and
Norvell (1978) and the concentration of Zn,
Fe, Cu and Mn in the DTPA-extract was
determined using atomic absorption
spectrophotometer
Soil-site suitability evaluation
The landscape and soil site characteristics
were used to evaluate soil suitability for
chickpea as per the guidelines given by Naidu
et al., (2006) Sys et al., (1991) represented in
Figure 1 The land suitability has been
assessed by comparing the landscape and soil
characteristics with crop requirements at
different suitability levels: S1: Highly
suitable, S2: Moderately suitable, S3:
Marginally suitable, N: Not suitable Thus,
the evaluation was done by comparing the
land characteristics with suitability levels of
the crop requirement tables (Naidu et al.,
(2006) The degree of limitations suggested
the suitability class of each soil for a
particular crop The potential land suitability
subclasses were determined after considering
the improvement measures to correct the
limitations Production potential calculation
of chickpea has been done based actual yield
and yield potential in the suitability class against the maximum attainable yield of the crop in particular area FAO (1976) has been defined the potential yield against their suitability class which is 0.8-1.0% for highly suitable (S1), 0.4-0.8% for moderately suitable (S2), 0.2-0.4% for marginally suitable (S3) and 0.0-0.20% not suitable (N)
Results and Discussion Soil characteristics (physical, chemical and fertility)
The data regard to soil characteristics of dissimilar landforms of the pedon P1 to P8 is adjacent in Table 1 and 2
Sand dunes (Pedon P1)
The sand content ranged from 87.10 to 89.32 with the mean value of 88.30% whereas clay content stretch from 9.12 to 10.93% with the mean value of 9.90% The soil pH fluctuate from 8.58 to 9.12 with the mean value of 8.85 showing the strongly alkaline in reaction which might be due to salt deposition in soil layers due to high temperature and very low rainfall These findings are similar to those of Sharma and Bhaskar (2003) The organic carbon content varied from 0.02 to 0.12% (mean 0.06%) indicating the soils were very low in organic carbon content The content of CaCO3 stretch between 2.20 and 6.34% (mean of 4.15%) The EC ranged from 0.14 to 0.22 dsm-1 (mean of 0.19 dsm-1)
The CEC varied from 7.34 to 13.32 cmol (p+)
kg-1(mean of 9.35 cmol (p+) kg-1) with loamy sand texture Similar observations were also
observed by Savalia et al., (2000) This pedon
observed with low values of N, P, K, Fe and
Mn whereas Zn and Cu content were high in the soils Moisture retention capacity of the pedon was 8.5 and 3.5 (m3m-3) on 0.03 and 1.5 MPa respectively
Trang 4Reclaimed sand dunes (Pedon P2)
The values of sand content ranged between
84.9 to 90.13 % with the mean of 87.61%
whereas the clay content ranged from 6.77 to
10.76% with the mean value of 8.89% The
soil pH varied from 8.52 to 8.93 with the
mean of 8.77 indicating the strongly alkaline
in nature The organic carbon content of soils
was very low and ranged between 0.02 and
0.10% (mean of 0.06%) with CaCO3 ranged
from 2.20 to 10.12% (mean of 6.58%) The
EC varied from 0.13 to 0.21 dsm-1 (mean of
0.16 dsm-1) whereas CEC ranged from 4.62 to
12.77 cmol (p+) kg-1 (mean of 8.26 cmol (p+)
kg-1) with loamy sand to loamy sand texture
These findings are similar to those of Sharma
and Bhaskar (2003) Pedon P2 observed with
low values of N, P, Fe, Mn with medium
availability of K whereas Zn and Cu content
was high in the soils Moisture retention
capacity of the pedon was 8.1 and 3.1 (m3m-3)
on 0.03 and 1.5 MPa respectively
Aeo fluvial flood plain (Pedon P3-P8)
The sand content in pedon P3 varied from
51.1 to 84.05 % (mean of 66.39%) whereas
the clay content ranged from 9.52 to 19.07%
(mean of 15.07%) The soil pH varies 8.47 to
8.67 with the mean value of 8.58 showing the
strongly alkaline in reaction which might be
due to salt deposition in soil layers and due to
high temperature and very less rainfall in the
area These findings are similar to those of
Sharma and Bhaskar (2003) The organic
carbon content varied from 0.10 to 0.23%
(mean 0.13%) indicating the soils were very
low in organic carbon content The content of
CaCO3 ranged between 1.95 to 4.02% (mean
of 3.24%) The EC ranged from 0.15 to 0.22
dsm-1 (mean of 0.18 dsm-1) The CEC varied
from 5.31 to 10.93 cmol (p+) kg-1(mean of
8.81 cmol (p+) kg-1) with loamy sand, sandy
loam and sandy clay loam texture Similar
observations were also observed by Savalia et
al., (2010) Pedon P3 registered with low
values of N, P, Fe, Mn with medium availability of K whereas Zn and Cu content was high in the soils Moisture retention capacity of the pedon was 16.8 and 6.2 (m3m-3) on 0.03 and 1.5 MPa respectively
In pedon P4 sand content varied from 75.8 to 87.95 % (mean of 80.61%) whereas the clay content ranged from 9.69 to 12.67% (mean of 10.85%) The soil pH varies 8.25 to 8.70 with the mean value of 8.41 showing the moderately to strongly alkaline in reaction which might be due to salt deposition in soil layers due to high temperature and very less rainfall in the area These findings are similar
to those of Sharma and Bhaskar (2003) The organic carbon content varied from 0.10 to 0.25% (mean 0.14%) indicating the soils were very low in organic carbon content The content of CaCO3 ranged between 2.32 to 3.79% (mean of 2.81%) The EC ranged from 0.20 to 0.38 dsm-1(mean of 0.27 dsm-1) The CEC varied from 6.3 to 10.29 cmol (p+) kg
-1
(mean of 7.62 cmol (p+) kg-1) with loamy sand to sandy loam texture Similar
observations were also observed by Savalia et al., (2010) Pedon P4 detect with low
availability of N, P, Fe, Mn with medium value of K whereas Zn and Cu content was high in the soils Moisture retention capacity
of the pedon was 10.4 and 25.4 (m3m-3) on 0.03 and 1.5 MPa, respectively
In pedon P5, the sand content ranged from 16.2 to 77.15% (mean of 53.0%) whereas clay content ranged from 11.03 to 39.53% (mean
of 23.24%) The soil exhibited strongly alkaline in reaction with mean pH value of 8.65 The organic carbon was low in this profile with the mean value of 0.11% The EC and CEC values observed with a mean of 0.28 dsm-1 and 19.53 cmol (p+) kg-1) respectively The ESP value was varied from 4.4 to 12.1 % with a mean value of 7.57%
Trang 5Table.1 Physical and chemical characteristic of the soils of CSF, Jetsar, Sri Ganganagar
(cm)
Size, class and particle diameter (mm)
Total (%)
(%)
(<2mm)(%)
pH (1:2.5)H 2 O
E.C (1:2.5)
H 2 O (dsm -1 )
CEC Cmol(p + )kg -1
ESP (%) Texture
Trang 6Table.2 Fertility (weighted mean) and moisture retention status of soils of CSF, Jetsar, Sri
Ganga nagar
(m 3 m -3 ) Major Nutrients
(kg ha -1)
Micronutrients (mg kg -1 )
0.03 MPa
1.5 MPa
Pedon 3 83.4 4.7 216.0 1.02 1.33 5.72 2.55 17.11 6.32
Pedon 4 87.5 8.9 176.7 1.23 0.86 3.06 3.81 10.60 4.30
Pedon 6 82.2 5.1 145.9 0.54 0.31 2.68 2.82 15.86 6.82
Pedon 7 79.5 6.7 129.0 0.44 0.37 3.83 2.37 19.08 5.71
Pedon 8 74.4 11.4 146.6 0.35 0.43 3.85 4.69 18.62 8.96
Table.3 Soil-site suitability criteria (crop requirements) for chickpea
suitable S1
Moderately suitable S2
Marginally suitable S3
Not suitable
N
Climatic
regime
Mean temperature in
growing season
26-30
>30
<5
Land
quality
Land characteristics
Moisture
availability
LGP for short duration
verities
LGP for long duration
verities
availability
in roots
imperfectly drained
Poorly drained, excessively drained
Very poorly drained
Nutrient
availability
Rooting
conditions
%
Soil
toxicity
Salinity (EC saturation
extract)
Erosion
hazard
Source: Naidu et al., 2006
Trang 7Table.4 Suitability analyses of chickpea for CSF farm, Jetsar, Sri Ganga nagar
Pedon Climate Slope Drainage Texture Dep CaCO 3 pH EC O.C Actual land
suitability class
Potential land suitability class
Actual Yield (q/ha)
Potential Yield (q/ha)
Yield gap (%)
Chickpea maximum attainable yield in the area = 22 q/h, () % yield of maximum attainable yield, Suitability subclass: f- soil fertility limitations; s- physical soil limitations; w- wetness limitations
Fig.1 Location map of central state farm, Jetsar, Sri Ganga nagar
Trang 8Fig.2 Soil characteristic maps of central state farm, Jetsar, Sri Ganga nagar
Fig.3 Soil-site suitability map of chickpea for central state farm, Jetsar
In pedon P7, the sand content ranged from
24.56 to 82.26% (mean of 60.60%) whereas
clay content ranged from 8.34 to 16.14% (mean of 12.08%) The soil exhibited strongly
Trang 9alkaline in reaction with mean pH value of
8.73 The organic carbon was low in this
profile with the mean value of 0.13% The EC
and CEC values observed with a mean of 0.30
dsm-1 and 7.37cmol (p+) kg-1) respectively
The ESP value was varied from 1.8 to 7.7 %
with a mean value of 4.30% The texture of
the profile belongs to sandy loam to silty
loam category Pedon P7 observed with low
availability of N, Fe, Mn with medium value
of P and K whereas Zn and Cu content was
high in the soils Moisture retention capacity
of the pedon was 16.7 and 5.3 (m3m-3) on
0.03 and 1.5 MPa respectively
In pedon P8, the sand content ranged from
17.69 to 85.29% (mean of 57.84%) whereas
clay content ranged from 8.39 to 42.23%
(mean of 20.37%) The soil exhibited very
strongly alkaline in reaction with mean pH
value of 9.28 The organic carbon was low in
this profile with the mean value of 0.11%
The EC and CEC values observed with a
mean of 3.30 dsm-1 and 14.68cmol (p+) kg-1)
respectively
The ESP value was varied from 9.8 to 68.7 %
with a mean value of 35.24% The texture of
the profile belongs to loamy sand to silty clay
to clay loam Pedon P8 observed with low
availability of N, Fe, Mn with medium value
of P and K whereas Zn and Cu content was
high in the soils
Moisture retention capacity of the pedon was
19.5 and 10.0 (m3m-3) on 0.03 and 1.5 MPa
respectively These findings are completely in
agreement to those of Selvaraj and Naidu
(2013), Gandhi and Savalia (2014) and Meena
et al., (2012)
chickpea
The soil characteristics of studied pedons
used in assessing suitability are presented in
table 1 and 2 and suitability map is represented in Figure 3
Sand dunes (Pedon P1)
The soils associated with this pedon belong to
Typic Torripsamments and currently not suitable (N) for the chickpea cultivation because of major limitations like topography, less organic carbon content and poor soil fertility and soil texture
Reclaimed sand dunes (Pedon P2)
Soils of this pedon belong to Typic Torripsamments and currently not suitable for the chickpea cultivation due to extreme soil
pH, poor soil fertility and very low organic carbon content but potential of these soils are marginally suitable (S3) with some soil related amendments
Aeofluvial flood plain (Pedon P3-P8)
Pedon P3, P6 and P7 which are grouped under
moderately suitable (S2) for chickpea cultivation (Table 3) The major limitations of these pedon are very low organic carbon content, poor soil texture and high soil pH and poor soil fertility which doesn’t allow crop for good germination and growth Physical and chemical condition of this soil can be improved with some soil amendment practices like gypsum application, farm yard manure application and removal of salts through good irrigation water and yield of chickpea can improved Pedon P5, which is grouped under Sodic Haplocambids is marginally suitable (S3) for chickpea These
soils showed limitations viz., low organic
carbon, high pH and poor drainage Pedon P4 and P8 which are grouped under Oxyaquic Torrifluvents and Sodic Haplocambids respectively are not suitable for the chickpea cultivation due to very low organic carbon, high pH and poor soil fertility Pedon P8 is
Trang 10potentially marginal suitable with fertility and
soil related improvements The soil fertility of
these pedon can be improved by mixing with
farm yard manure and green manure year
after year
Actual and potential yield of all the pedon
presented in Table 4 Difference between
these yields are maximum for pedon P4 which
is 36% whereas minimum for pedon P1 and
P4 around 9% This yield gap among all the
pedon varies from 9-36% which can be
reduced with gaining potential yield of
chickpea in the central state farm according to
particular suitability class with soil and
fertility related management practices
The soil-site suitability evaluation study
revealed major limitations of the area such as
texture, base saturation, pH and organic
matter Mixing the gypsum and organic
matter in the desert soils with conservation
agricultural practices is necessary to improve
soil health The fertility properties such as
base saturation, pH and organic carbon can be
improved by addition of organic matter
through farm yard manure/compost/green
manuring The soils of pedon P3, P6 and P7
are more suitable to grow the chickpea
compared to pedon P1, P2, P4 and P8 soils
Yield gap of 9-36% has been reduced with
soil and fertility related managements in the
area Hence, judicious use of organic manures
in combination with inorganic fertilizers in
these soils not only pave the way to achieve
sustainable yield of chickpea but also to
sustain the soil fertility without deterioration
for future generations
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